Dubrovnik Fooded by Torrential Rains

Croatia, November 6 (CD) – Due to torrential rains, the ancient walled city of Dubrovnik, the pearl of the Adriatic was flooded on Friday

The water brought traffic in some parts of the city to a virtual standstill, while in others there are serious problems.

Water has managed to make its way into a post office and some motorists are said to be stranded in their floating cars.

The emergency services are doing all they can to assist those in trouble.

The main reason for several recent floods has been the fact that the drains in Dubrovnik are not cleaned well enough, although there exist two workers who take care of them daily, but this is obviously not enough.

Several Croatia’s Jadrolinija Shipper Crew Involved in Cigarette Smuggling

Croatia, November 6 (CD) – Charges have been brought against 10 crew members and one crew member of a Jadrolinija shipper passenger ship has been arrested after it was established they had been involved in smuggling of cigarettes between Croatia and Italy estimated to be worth some €1.4 million.

The police operation marks the ending of a 2-year-long run of cigarette smuggling which involved Croatian and 

Italian crew members travelling between the Croatian port city of Split and the Italian port of Ancona.

Some port workers have also been involved in the plot.

It is believed some 14 tons of cigarettes had been smuggled.

Four Croatian Radio Television Journalists Get Warning rather then Get Sacked

Croatia, November 3 (CD) – Four Croatian Radio Television (HRT) journalists Lela Knezevic, Robert Zuber, Maja Sever, Sanja Miklousevic Pavic have been given a cautioned rather than sacked after insulting the HRT, the public radio television’s general manager,  Vanja Sutlic.

The four journalists recently spoke to the local INDEX news portal about what they had overheard some 18 months ago when Sutlic called their colleague Ivana Dragicevic Velickovic ‘a Chetnik whore’ just because she was married to a person of Serb nationality and this resulted in Sutlic being so enraged he ordered the four be sacked.

This sparked heated reactions from the journalists’ HRT colleagues, the Croatian Journalists’ Association and even president Stjepan Mesic, who said that if it was true that Sutlic treated HRT employees that way he should be punished.

Today it became clear that the HRT top brass who were handling the procedure had decided not to go all the way for fear of further public reaction and let the journalists who just reported what they heard ‘off with a caution’.

The four are planning to take court action and appeal against the HRT caution, as they are questioning the legality of procedure brought against them.

Croatia has been slumping in the freedom of the media rankings and this is yet another scandal that will not help the cause.

Croatian Parliament Approves the Signing of an Agreement on Arbitration between Croatia and Slovenia allowing Unhindered Continuation of EU Entry Negotiations

Croatia, November 2 (CD) – The Croatian parliament has approved the signing of an Arbitration Agreement with Slovenia, as well as the Statement on avoiding prejudging.

Some 80 MPs voted in favour of the support to the signing of the document, 45 abstained and eight voted against, as parliament announced.

Most of the MPs i.e. 133 had voted in favour of the agreement, while SDP abstained with the exception of Ivo Josipovic and three other SDP MPs who voted against it.

The support to the signing of the agreement means that Croatia’s EU membership negotiations with get unstuck, as Slovenia will no longer block their progress.

The Slovene PM Borut Pahor said on Monday he was hoping the Agreement to be discussed in the Slovene parliament before the end of the week and for the Agreement between the two countries to be signed on Friday.

Ljubicic Takes the Lyon Tennis Tournament after more than Two Years of Not Winning

Croatia,  November 1 (CD) – Croatian tennis star Ivan Ljubicic has won the Lyon tennis tournament for the second time in his career, this being his first victory in more than two years of not managing to come on top.

This is Ljubicic’s ninth ATP victory and the first after Rosmalen in June of 2007.

He defeated Frenchmen Michael Llodra 7-5, 6-3 after 96 minutes.